An Event Report to Lift the Spirits of All Those Who Have “Few Friends”

On May 19 at the Shinagawa Stellar Ball, the premium event “Let’s Go to the Neighbor’s Club!” was held. Many are no doubt familiar with the Neighbor’s Club. That’s right, this event was for the anime I Have Few Friends NEXT. The event was put on as a special bonus to those who purchased the first volume Blu-ray or DVD of the anime. A wonderful lineup of guests from the voice cast appeared at the event including Ryohei Kimura (Hasegawa Kodaka), Marina Inoue (Mikazuki Yozora), Kanae Ito (Kashiwazaki Sena), Misato Fukuen (Shiguma Rika), Nozomi Yamamoto (Kusunoki Yukimura), Kana Hanazawa (Hasegawa Kobato), and Yuka Iguchi (Takayama Maria).

The event began with Kimura calling out to all his “friends” in the audience, “Good evening!” to which the crowd of friends who had grown tired of waiting all replied back enthusiastically.

From the very beginning, the crowd was excited, and the first segment of the show was “I Have Few People Who Sympathize with Me.” This segment consisted of the voice cast choosing between two options of either character dialogue from Haganai (the shortened name for I Have Few Friends) or emotions, and the audience had to pick which one they sympathized with the most. Those who weren’t sympathized with received “regret points” and the person with the most points at the end of the game was given the unfortunate title of “pitiable voice star.” It was a very Haganai-like segment. The most lively moment of the segment was when a question was posed regarding whether a miniskirt or long skirt is better suited for a maid outfit. When one of the voice actresses defended her answer of miniskirt, she unexpectedly blurted out, “You can’t see panties with a long skirt!” which enlivened the crowd. Yamamoto was then crowned the unfortunate “winner” of this segment before it came to a close.

The next segment was two consecutive live recordings of the radio show I Have Few Friends on Air Radio. For the first recording, Yamamoto took the lead with Iguchi and Fukuen as guests. For the first part of the show, the performers asked the audience for suggestions of what it means to be girly, to which they judged whether or not it was. Many suggestions flew up from the crowd, but one that really riled everyone up was one directed toward Iguchi, who voices Takayama Maria: “Femininity is being able to even say ‘poop, poop’ and have it sound cute.” Such a thing definitely wouldn’t normally be considered girly, but for some reason, the general consensus in the audience was that it was.

Continuing with the perfectly Haganai-like unfortunate afterglow that remained, the second part of the live recording hosted by Kimura and Inoue began. Continuing with the guests from the first part, additional guests this time were Hanazawa and Ito. The segment that seemed to be a crowd-favorite was “Everyone Fall in Love! Real Feelings from Confession Mail.” In this segment, Kimura and Inoue read aloud and acted out confession experiences from fans all over the country. This was embarrassing not just for the voice stars, but for everyone listening, and a bittersweet feeling hung in the air.

In addition to the normal performing pair of Kimura & Inoue, the guests also formed pairs, like Kimura & Ito and Inoue & Hanazawa, and performed. The recording developed into something like a romance manga as the cast acted out the confessions, making the audience blush and giving everyone a warm-hearted feeling.

As the last portion of the event, the anime’s opening theme, “Be My Friend,” was performed live. The audience went wild seeing all the voice actresses on stage performing together. News was then announced on the compilation album I Have Few Friends - Neighbor’s Club Vocal Collection, which will include all 19 vocal songs from the first season and span roughly 80 minutes. The album will be released on Aug. 28, so check it out.

I Have Few Friends - Neighbor’s Club Vocal Collection
Release Date: Aug. 28, 2013
Price: 3,150 yen (tax included)
Run Time: roughly 80 minutes
Selling Agency: Media Factory

TV Anime I Have Few Friends NEXT Official Site

This is a Tokyo Otaku Mode original article